Sunday, December 23, 2007

Naughty teenagers, flying nurses and desperate housewives...

It can only be my 2007 TV Review!

Shows I loved this year:Desperate HousewivesSeason three of Desperate Housewives was just what we all needed to beat those Lost-recession blues. For, as J.J Abrams’ island mystery got more and more out of its depth, adding more characters, more flashbacks, more layers, to a point where the audience were past caring, Desperate Housewives succeeded in what it did best: show the lives of 5 sassy women. The main mystery of season three revolves around Bree's new husband, Orson Hodge (played with a swarmy quality by Kyle McLachlan that quite a few of my friends found a turn on), and whether or not he murdered his ex-wife. Meanwhile, Mike Delfino is still comatose after being hit by Orson, and Susan, in tending to him, meets the handsome Ian Hainsworth (Dougray Scott, the British accent is gorgeous), and the two begin dating, just as Mike begins to awake from his coma. Gabrielle, meanwhile, having divorced Carlos, embarks on a some (hilariously) dreadful dating choices, ending with her marriage to Victor Lang, a politician who only married her to secure the minority vote. Edie uses her son to get Carlos, and Lynette has her marriage tested to the limits as her husband opens a pizzeria and a long-lost love child of his enters the scene.

The acting in season three is top notch, the plot, though ridiculous, is wildly entertaining and nothing makes a show more watchable than the combined eye candy of Dougray Scott, Jamie Denton, and various other hotties. Bring on season four!

SkinsThe adverts for this 9-part drama following a group of Bristolian teens featured clips of rampant and illicit drug-taking, boozing, partying, shagging and basically, anything but studying for their AS levels. Nicholas Hoult, once so adorable in About a Boy, takes centre stage here as the hugely unlovable Tony, the gangleader, who bullies his best friend Sid about being a virgin and cheats on his delusional girlfriend Michelle with an array of girls (and boys). Other characters include Maxxie, a boy struggling with his sexuality, Chris, who’s struggling with his crush on his psychology teacher, and best of all, Cassie, an anorexic ditz.

Despite the amoral advertisements and insufferably smug pilot episode, I grew to really enjoy Skins. Jamie Brittain and Brian Elsey cleverly weaved the fundamental human element into the show, so that no matter how annoying we find the teenagers, it’s hard to loathe them completely, as we remember that they are, after all, just teenagers. And the finale, showing how Sid and Cassie do eventually find true love, is particularly endearing. Nice guys don’t always finish last.

Ugly BettyHere’s a show that I’ve only started getting back into recently. I saw the first few episodes of season 1, and now I’m just bunging in into season 2. What I love about this show is its insightfully scathing look into the fashion world, America Ferrera’s natural charm, and that camp man. I’m still playing catch-up with the plot, but as far as I can tell… Alexis used to be a guy, right?

HeroesWithout a doubt, one of the best shows ever to grace BBC 2, Tim Kring’s creation is a superb amalgam of all the superheroes and superhero powers an overzealous kid could imagine, bunged into a melting pot, and with the age-old good/bad divide. Unlike with Lost, every single character in Heores has something interesting about them, whether it be superpowerless-but-inquisitive Mohinder, Hiro Nakamura, a computer programmer who can stop time, Peter Petrelli, an idealistic nurse who can fly, Claire Bennet, a cheerleader who can never die, or, most terrifyingly, Gabriel “Sylar”, one of the baddies who goes round killing all the other heroes and then accumulating their powers. As the season goes along, the heroes of the show discover that they can use their powers to good, and in doing so, often have to take part in thrilling, life-threatening showdowns with other heroes. The interweaved plots give the story a lot of cohesion and the performances from the entire cast are so convincing that we as the audience grow to care about them as more than just people with superhuman strength. It’s edge of your seat stuff with important messages of the importance of friendship, family, and how being different is never a bad thing. (gah, I sounded like I was quoting High School Music there.)

HollyoaksNot the classiest of choices, but Hollyoaks is compulsive shadenfreude TV. Gilly and John-Paul aside, there isn’t a single person on this show that I don’t hate, and that’s what makes it so fun to watch. Take Amy Barnes, for example. Obtuse to the point of farce, she’d gotten knocked up at 14, had the baby in the middle of a car crash, given the child to her parents because she was so ashamed, then, in the middle of the summer holidays, her maternal instinct kicks in and she walks out on her parents to live in a council estate with the lad that abandoned her in the car crash, a revolting boy by the name of “Ste”. Other storylines include Nancy and Jake, a college student and her brother in law, whom she’s recently gotten engaged to; Craig, a boy who was engaged to a Sarah whilst carrying on behind her back with a John Paul; Warren, a bartender with a gambling addiction; Steph, an awful actress who thinks she’s star quality…

I mean, honestly. You can see why if I’m in a bad mood at school, half an hour of Hollyoaks can cheer me up.

Mock the WeekSimply put, it’s the most entertaining way to catch up on current affairs. Russell Howard is a comedy legend.

Without a TraceIt’s all about Anthony LaPaglia’s brooding coolness, the slick execution and the human element to finding missing people.

Drop Dead GorgeousPure trash-TV, it’s a rags-to-riches story of two Evertonian twin sisters, one of which is an outgoing and chatty, the other mild and self-deprecating. The latter gets selected to become a model, and jealousy, bitchiness and scheming follow. The performances by the two playing the sisters are convincing, and there’s something rewardingly domestic about the show.

Fanny HillBased on the bawdy novel by John Cleland, this drama tells the story of a girl who was almost going into prostitution before meeting her true love Charlie. He’s then cruelly taken from her, and she’s forced to sell herself to make ends meet, but unusually, Fanny enjoys her sexual escapades, and the fact that she’s resourceful, witty, yet not self-pitying, makes her a very likeable protagonist. The ending of this drama was a little hurried but overall, it was very funny, pretty sexy and hugely entertaining.

Would I Lie to You?This is basically a game show where celebrities claim to have done something, and the opposing teams have to work out whether or not they are lying. A pretty simple concept, but David Mitchell’s rants are hilarious, and hey, you get to learn some unexpected facts about C-list celebs.Gossip GirlUgh. I'm running out of time so I'll just give you this.

And of course I've been catching up with all the repeats Channel4 shows of my favourite TV programme, but I don't have Sky so I haven't seen any new material from The Simpsons. Except, of course, the movie, which I really enjoyed.

18 comments:

Desperate Housewives was really good this year. I thought it dropped the ball in Season Two and I gave up watching it for a while, but the beginning of Season Three hooked me. I don't think it's particularly well plotted or scripted, but I enjoy most of the actors and it's fun escapism. I'm going to count myself among Orson's many fans. Kyle McLachlan can't act, but he has this great presence and he lent the series some oddball charm so I could almost fool myself I was watching Twin Peaks! Looking forward to the next season.

I love Ugly Betty too. And yep, Alexis had a sex-change.

But my favourite tv show this year was Strictly Come Dancing. Now that it's over I have no idea what to do with my Saturday nights!

Other good programmes: Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, Heroes (I gave up halfway through because I thought they were dragging it on too long, but the first half was amazing) and America's Next Top Model.

I do love Desperate Housewives, but I haven't been able to watch it much this year. I absolutely adore Gossip Girl, and another equally favourite show is Robin Hood, a UK BBC show. I did begin to watch Ugly Betty, but found the first season a little repetitive. Great review, though.

scrubs. scrubs more than anything. Although admittedly, I have recently become obsessed with something new. My AS Maths is in January, and I've spent 6 hours today watching robin hood repeats on my computer.

I know I'm reading this 4 yrs after, but it is a really entertaining post, thanks. I personally enjoyed Ratatouille and Fanny Hill too - in fact they are both going to come out of my dvd cupboard for another viewing. Thanks for sharing.

You have made some really good points there. I checked on the internet to find out more about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this web site.My web page: goldenphrog.com

Hi there I am so glad I found your site, I really found you by error, while I was researching on Bing for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a remarkable post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read much more, Please do keep up the excellent b.Here is my page :: cybernet4u.com

Hello, i think that i saw you visited my site so i came to “return the favor”.I'm trying to find things to enhance my site!I suppose its ok to use a few of your ideas!!Also visit my website ... organic seo

Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any solutions to prevent hackers?

Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; we have developed some nice practices and we are looking to swap solutions with other folks,why not shoot me an email if interested.

I loved as much as you'll receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again as exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this hike.